A facility that catered to the younger folk had been established in Neo Kichijoji, the most prominent entertainment district in the metropolis—the Heaven’s Ocean Club. Massive and modern, it was, in fact, a fresh aqua resort made from the combination of a club and a night pool.
The facility was capable of housing approximately 8000 people; some event of sorts was always underway regardless of the day of the week. and it attracted massive crowds of youths late at night from the supernatural ability zone and those outside of it.
It would be 2 A.M soon in the middle of the night; it was at around that time that Takanashi Sirou arrived at the Heaven’s Ocean Club along with Renya and Yui.
The particular event of the day had already begun, but the fact that said day was a weekend meant that the wave of customers was still large, and there was still a long line of young men and women awaiting entry at such an hour.
Now in the middle of the line, the attire and style of dress that Sirou and the other two had donned with them for the occasion blended into the overall clientele waiting to enter the club.
“I guess it’s rather interesting to dress up like this once in a while.”
“Well, good for you. I’m not into this whole cosplaying thing. Doesn’t really suit me.”
“Come on, it’s not every day that we get to dress up like this and don’t have to feel uncomfortable about it.”
“What do you even mean by that…humph.”
“Now, now,” Sirou said, trying to soothe Renya as the latter lamented on the situation with an irritated expression. He then turned toward the left directly opposite Renya, eyeing Yui as she wore an attire that revealed her shoulders and much of her legs.
“Hmm? Is something the matter, Takanashi-kun?” Noticing Sirou’s gaze, she tilted her head slightly in puzzlement.
Towering slightly over her, Sirou’s gaze was fixated on Yui’s generous chest, the attire she was wearing emphasizing her cleavage; the way they bulged out superbly made for quite the enticing image from his particular angle.
“You’re quite incorruptible despite that sexy body of yours, Chairwoman…a fascinating mystery indeed.”
“…You’re not very good with compliments when it comes to women, are you, Takanashi-kun?”
Despite the fact that she straightened her chest with her retort, her gesture instead shook her breasts slightly.
…She’s defenseless even at times like this.
She was a sight for sore eyes, but that was exactly why she was bound to attract unwanted worms around her—something that invited Sirou to wrap his arm around Yui’s waist and embrace her.
“Eh….?” Yui turned toward Sirou, surprised at his sudden gesture.
“We’d arranged that we’d be arriving here under the guise of being a couple, haven’t we? We’re about to get in, and we’re not really looking the part yet. Come on, sidle yourself closer to me,” Sirou whispered.
“O-Okay…so, like this?” Yui voluntarily leaned in closer to him despite her embarrassment; it was then that she suddenly remembered something.
“By the way, the Hungry Wolf Brigade is an organization that you’ve established alongside Mika-san, right, Takanashi-kun?”
“Hmm? Yeah, that’s true but…is there something you wanted to ask?”
“It’s nothing, really…I was just wondering if you had a particular goal in mind when you decided to make an organization with the brigade leader, given that you and her seem to have known each other for some time,” She said, casually.
“…I suppose I do. There’s something I simply have to do no matter what, you see.”
As Sirou finished that statement, the customers before them had just completed their reception and entered the club; finally arriving at their turn to enter, Sirou paid the required fee for two men and a woman to enter, and the female staff member wearing a shirt over her swimsuit that was serving them passed three silicon wristbands to them; the wristbands would be proof that they were allowed entry.
“These will also function as verification keys for your lockers, so please make sure not to lose them.”
“Gotcha—thanks.”
Replying with a smile, Sirou then entered the interior of the building with Renya and Yui in tow.
Part 2
The space that Kosaki Yui next entered was unlike anything she had ever seen before.
The wide floor was four times as large as an ordinary variant, the space filled with showering lights of green, blue and azure; upbeat music was being played in the background at an extremely high volume.
The heavy sound of bass reverberated across the floor, giving one the illusion that the sound itself was capable of rumbling it; a waterfall had been installed deep beneath the floor, flowing like a large, watery curtain.
A large water tank was present in the center of the space, pools with fountains installed on both sides.
Young men and women were making merry and enjoying themselves in their swimsuits under the beautiful azure shine of the water, reveling in the late-night party with great enthusiasm.
“So this is what a club looks like…” Yui let out, admittedly experiencing some semblance of culture shock.
“I suppose…this place does cater for folks who really like to party. Added by the fact that today’s a weekend as well as the fact that there’s an event going on, and it’s natural that the crowd here is more excited than usual.”
After Sirou’s explanation, Yui followed him and Renya deep into a passage beside the floor. It led them to a changing room meant for customers to change into their swimsuits.
Their purpose of infiltrating the Heaven’s Ocean club was to find and capture the culprit of the Pinky Promise Case, Antonio Fabbroni—however, they would inevitably stick out if they were to wander about the facility without wearing any swimsuits.
“Well, I’ll go get ready first, then,” Sirou said as he entered the men’s changing room, leaving Yui and Renya behind.
“I’m sorry, Midou-kun…I didn’t mean to have to stand by guarding me.”
“Don’t mind it at all. We’re talking about a criminal from a mafia gang that frequents this place here. It’ll be easy for the gang to do whatever they want here, regardless of whether the folks of this place cooperated with them willingly or if they’d been threatened by force to do so,” Renya replied.
That being said—
“Sirou’s already decided on leaving you alone for as less time as possible, so I have no doubts on his own judgment. Besides, our brigade leader’s also given you something to ward away any pests, hasn’t she?”
“Yes, she’s done so very generously.”
Renya stared at the earring attached onto Yui’s ear, made of a motif that combined a wolf, the moon and a cross.
It was enchanted with Mika’s magic, and its recognition mechanism had been activated, meaning that only others that possessed the same awakened marks related to the Seven Deadly Sins could recognize her; she had brought this accessory along with her to the Heaven’s Ocean Club to avoid any unnecessary interest from her surroundings.
“Things should be fine, then…though at the end of the day, that little earring’s just insurance and nothing more. Try not to rely on it too much.”
The effects of the awakened mark that Sirou, Renya and the rest of the Hungry Wolf Brigade members possessed did not apply to those who were acquainted with the brigade members, but it also did not apply to supernatural ability users of a particular level; there was also the fact that it did not apply to individuals that were identifying them through cameras or monitors.
Additionally, there was also the issue of the high possibility that Antonio Fabbroni was high-level supernatural ability user himself, or that there were such ability users working for him. The possibility that he and his group were already aware of their presence in the club had to be considered; Yui herself was specifically asked to come along to support Sirou and Renya when they would finally find Antonio Fabbroni in person.
Antonio was a man who seemingly persisted on making women his personal objects despite the fact that they were already in relationships with other people; he seemed to have a twisted fetish of violating and making such women his in front of their lovers, likely coming from the fact that such was a new means for him to satisfy himself given that he was tired of messing with women who still had their virginity intact, women who belonged to no one.
…Though all that could simply be inferred from the intel they’d received.
The victims of the Pinky Promise Case were all women that he’d stolen away; and though the corpses discovered so far amounted to a total of seven, the women that were actually missing were actually in the tens.
Antonio was unforgivable in every sense of the word; and the best way for them to draw such a man into their net and providing him with no escape was to offer themselves as his prime targets.
That said, the fact that Yui was masquerading as Sirou’s lover would inevitably draw Antonio’s attention; Yui herself was not aware of how attractive she was to the opposite sex.
It was necessary to maintain the impression that they were in a relationship; if Antonio was enticed by violating women in front of their own lovers, such excitement would only escalate if the man in question was of a particularly high status. To claim the woman of one of the foremost senior leaders of the Hungry Wolf Brigade would swell his pride and arousal to its maximum, and Yui herself would also be a stunning trophy within his mafia world.
…I have to do my best.
Renewing her determination in her mind, her gaze saddened turned to Sirou, who had emerged from the changing room wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a pair of Bermudan trunks.
“Sorry for the wait. It’s your turn, then, Chairwoman.”
“Alright. Do excuse me for a moment,” She said, and she walked toward the women’s changing room.
Sirou and Renya prepared themselves to act if any sudden problems were to occur as they stood by waiting for her; they were prepared to respond immediately, ready for the possibility that someone was already waiting to kidnap Yui, though they would only act if the situation demanded it.
Yui herself was also informed of how she was supposed to act on such an occasion; she walked toward the changing room with such information in mind.
Due to the large size of the building, the changing room itself was quite spacious, with lockers arranged in rows with a fixed space between each one, and it was currently filled with naked or barely dressed girls who were changing into their underwear.
“Um…”
Yui had been told to pick a locker as close to the entrance as possible so they could react as best they could while she was still inside; however, given the massive amount of people present given that there was an event on a weekend, many of the lockers were already taken, and Yui was thus forced to go deeper into the changing room to find an unoccupied locker for herself.
She eventually found an empty locket and began to take off her clothes in front of it; she had been wearing her swimsuit under her current outfit, and she had finished changing simply by taking off her hooded jacket and hotpants. This was an arrangement they had decided to minimize the amount of time Yui would be alone in the locker room.
And besides…
Sirou had also mentioned that this changing room may very well be linked to a VIP room somewhere.
They may very well have caught us already. Yui hugged her body lightly at the thought.
“…Hey, you’re that guest the Hungry Wolf Brigade’s currently taking care of, right?”
A sudden voice addressed her from the side, and Yui abruptly turned toward it to notice a pretty young woman wearing a swimsuit staring at her with an appraising look.
The fact that she could recognize Yui meant that she was either an acquaintance of the Hungry Wolf Brigade or a supernatural ability user of a level that was capable of recognizing her. The worst-case scenario was that she was a supernatural ability user and she was working for Antonio Fabbroni.
Nevertheless, Yui decided that it was too early to call upon Sirou and Renya to help her.
“Excuse me…but who might you be?”
“You can call me anyone. You’re not really in a position to deny things here, though, are you?” Not answering Yui’s question, the young woman instead clicked her tongue, visibly displeased.
“The nerve of you, getting close and getting all chummy with them like that. And at any rate, you don’t even know just how much they’ve done, have you?”
Yui wasn’t sure that the woman before her was a high-level supernatural ability user; despite that, however, it was clear from her expression and tone that she had some relation to the Hungry Wolf Brigade—a hostile relationship.
“The rumors also say you’re only a preliminary member, but…you’re already acting like you’re one of them by coming all the way out here by yourself? What an eyesore, getting so carried away like that already,” Her words were full of emotion as her gaze stiffened.
“Um…I’m sorry, but there’s someone waiting for me outside.”
It didn’t matter that she hadn’t finished changing yet; not wanting to further provoke the woman confronting her, she lowered her head and attempted to escape the room.
“Wh—Hey, hang on a second!” Irritated by Yui’s response, she became more emotional and reached her hand out to forcibly grab her by the wrist. But before she could succeed—
“—Stop that, Miyako.”
The intervening, composed voice of another woman caused her to stop.
“Asumi-san…”
It was indeed Asumi who Yui had been introduced to as the baker in front of the station; Asumi flashed a warm smile at Yui as the latter exclaimed her name, but it quickly faded as she turned toward the other young woman with a stern look on her face.
“I’m well aware of your situation concerning the Hungry Wolf Brigade, Miyako, and you’re free to think of them however you will and I won’t stop you. But I won’t forgive you if you’re going to involve this girl in your own feelings.”
“You’re asking me to keep my own feelings in check? I was just giving her a proper warning.”
“A warning? You’ve only ever seen one side of Sirou and the others. Do you think you’re qualified to actually give her any advice given how little you actually know about them?”
“W-What do you mean by that? I know exactly how despicable they are.”
“…I won’t deny that your current situation as well as your past is quite unfortunate. I won’t deny that Sirou and the others did play a part in causing you to lose a place where you could belong to.”
Nevertheless—
“Even though they might have been in the wrong in that particular case, that doesn’t mean it was entirely a mistake. None of you could relent when it came to your differing perspectives, and they simply acted to protect their own principles, that’s all. Haven’t you ever thought about how many girls they’ve saved by doing that?”
“So what? Are you saying that I’m a necessary sacrifice for the sake for all those other girls?”
“I doubt either of us had that intention in mind. Still, there’s something really wrong about you trying to ask Sirou and the others to take responsibility for what they’ve done to you. And it’s not like they didn’t offer you a helping hand, be it back then, or even now. You’ve been the one brushing them away and ignoring them at every turn. The one responsible for your own misery and your own way of life…is yourself, Miyako.”
After all—
“Besides, if you have any complaints, why are you even taking it out on the poor girl when Sirou and Renya are here too? You might as well spout all this out to them instead.”
“Spare me! I don’t want to have anything to do with those two jerks again!” She cried, and she turned toward Yui again.
“You’ll eventually realize it soon enough. And maybe you deserve to grovel and regret everything when the time comes.”
With that final, scathing remark, she headed into the shower cubicles that were installed in the deeper section of the changing room.
As the door closed with her back facing it, Yui finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Thanks for the save, Asumi-san…but why are you here?”
“Another bakery that mine is acquainted with happens to operate here, but the baker in question happened to break their back. That’s why I decided to drop by to lend a hand for the night,” Asumi said with a smile. “This is actually my first time delivering stuff here, but I happened to pass by Sirou and Renya on the floor. I greeted them and learned that you were here too, Yui-chan. As much as I think you’ll be safe with them, I also think this isn’t exactly the best place for a gala, so I decided to check up on you.”
“I see…thank you very much,” Yui thanked her once again. “…Um, Asumi-san?”
“You’re bothered by what just happened with that girl, aren’t you?”
Yui nodded affirmingly at Asumi’s quiet question.
“She’s Kisaragi Miyako. She was working for a hostess bar called Elysium up until last year, and she was quite popular to the point where there was no one around Neo Kichijoji who didn’t know her.”
Still—
“The bar was organized by a loose criminal group, you see. In order to pay their taxes, they’d drug women to the point of dependence and brought them back to her place as a sex establishment. Having acquired intel about this criminal group, Sirou and his group infiltrated the bar and saved all the captured girls, crushing the group in the process.”
“To think something like that happened…”
“Still, being the number one girl in the bar and having had a relationship with the owner of the bar, Miyako was unable to accept the shock of the whole situation. Sirou and the others had offered to help her find work in other bars or to provide her with another job, but she kept stubbornly refusing them.”
“…”
Yui suddenly turned silent upon hearing of Miyako’s past.
“Well, it’s not really something you have to fuss over so much. Things can be looked at differently depending on the situation, so it’s natural to harbor different feelings over the same subject as well. As much as there are people who hate the Hungry Wolf Brigade like Miyako, there are people like me who really like them too. It’s really not a matter of right or wrong at all,” Asumi said. “That’s why I think it’s best for you to face Sirou and the others with your own honest feelings, Yui-chan.”
“I understand,” Yui replied to Asumi with a firm nod bereft of any doubt.
There could be no one else.
“I’ll decide for myself…I’ll decide what kind of people Takanashi-kun and the others are to me.”
Part 3
Having finally changed into her swimsuit, Yui then exited the changing room with Asumi beside her.
She then met up with Sirou who had been waiting for her by the hallway.
“Thanks for waiting, Takanashi-kun,” As she called out to Sirou, she then noticed that Renya was no longer with him.
“So Midou-kun’s already?”
“Yeah. As planned, we’re going to act individually. I imagine he’s managed to get a hold of a waiter’s uniform right about now,” Sirou nodded, explaining the situation.
There were VIP rooms on two floors of the Heaven’s Ocean Club. The first was an elevated floor that allowed one to oversee the floor below them; the other floor was a sub basement floor, its very existence a secret and unknown by many. It was likely that Antonio Fabbroni was offered both floors for his use whenever he visited the club, and he would pick his floor of choice based on his mood on the particular day while leaving the other unused room to his subordinates. It was likely that Antonio preferred the lower ground floor, but that was not a certainty.
That being said, Sirou and Renya had decided to split up to search the elevated floor and the lower ground floor; Yui was to act as a couple with Sirou on the lower floor.
“Hmm? Is something wrong, Takanashi-kun?” Yui suddenly asked, noticing that Sirou was staring at her.
“Nothing, really. …You were already quite erotic earlier, but now that you’ve stripped off your clothes, you’ve kicked things up a notch.”
“…So you think so too, Takanashi-kun…”
Attempting to avoid the thought, Yui’s cheeks reddened as she looked at the swimsuit she was wearing—an altered white bandeau bikini. Its design was extremely revealing, exposing most of her large breasts, covering them only the same way her own hands could cover them. And if that alone wasn’t enough, the design was also such that it also revealed Yui’s cleavage.
Her undergarment appeared to be of a panties-type but only a rhombus-shaped segment of cloth covered what needed to be covered, connected to only what appeared to be rims that looked as though they were cut out.
Mikoto had been the one that picked out her swimsuit for her; though she was initially only supposed to have searched for a new swimsuit with Rin, Mikoto had somehow heard of their endeavor and had redundantly appeared before them with an extremely wide smile on her face. Justifying that the selection of underwear in the store Yui and Rin had initially gone to was too meek for Antonio’s tastes, she then dragged Yui and her sister to a different swimsuit store.
Yui had been taken to a swimsuit store that sold swimsuits of extreme obscene designs, which obviously only earned Yui’s disapproval; however, Mikoto had managed to get the last laugh with a simple retort.
You won’t be able to help Sirou as effectively like that.
Yui thus found herself unable to refuse in the face of that comment; however, having been unwilling to pick out such provocative swimsuits for herself, Mikoto had picked one in her stead.
The swimsuit she was currently wearing was commonly acclaimed as “The Virginity Killer Bikini.” A variety of other bikinis from a supposed “Virginity Killer” series such as a competitive swimsuit known as the “Virginity Ripper” and the “Virginity to Honeycomb” swimsuit, types that had far exceeded the standard of risky and were completely impractical in terms of their designs.
What she was wearing was already quite mild compared to the other swimsuits the store was displaying.
Yui’s role was to capture the attention of Antonio Fabbroni; there was thus merit to the choice of swimsuit that they had bought under Mikoto’s insistence, and she was safe from the attention of others due to the accessory that Mika had given her.
“…As I thought, this is just a little too bold now, isn’t it…” She murmured, flushing in embarrassment again.
“A swimsuit is just cloth. If you happen to look erotic, I’d say it’s due to the wearer than the clothing itself, Yui-chan.”
“That’s quite inconvenient for me, then…” Yui’s shoulders shrunk reflexively.
“Still, thanks for the help, Asumi. The Chairwoman didn’t have to be left on her own with you around,” Sirou said gratefully. “Sorry for bothering you in the middle of work.”
“It’s all good. You were right to ask me to check up on her, anyway.”
“Oh? Did something happen in the changing room?” Sirou asked.
“It was nothing important. It was just Miyako,” Asumi revealed the truth of their chance meeting in the changing room.
“…I see. She’s doing well, I hope,” The mention of Miyako’s name caused Sirou’s expression to take on a more somber tone.
“I suppose. She seems to be the same as always,” Asumi said with a wry smile. Miyako had thought that it was unnecessary to carefully talk things through with them, which was why Yui herself had not gone out of her way to mention the incident. “Well, I still have work to do, so I really should get going.”
Asumi’s expression took on another bright smile as she headed deeper into the passageway, and Yui and Sirou saw her off.
“—Well then, I suppose we should be heading out there too,” Sirou said, extending his hand toward Yui.
“…”
Kosaki Yui administered the hand she was offered—the hand of a peculiar young man known as Takanashi Sirou.
To someone like Kisaragi Miyako, his was a hand that might have truly taken away all that had been precious to her.
But things were different with Yui—his was a hand that had saved her and protected her.
“Alright.”
There was no hesitation as she accepted his hand, voluntarily holding it tight.
She knew that his intentions were kind and considerate behind his easygoing exterior—and she found herself unable to reject him.
“…—Let’s go, Takanashi-kun.”
Part 4
Takanashi Sirou was followed by Yui as he ventured deeper into the main floor; they passed through the wave of people to end up in front of a massive waterfall that was flowing vigorously.
“Well, Chairwoman, can you see it?”
“Mhm…”
Yui nodded as her gaze remained fixated on something that lay beneath the waterfall; a rocky surface could be seen on the other side of the flowing water if one concentrated hard enough, and a door was installed upon that surface.
“That’s the entrance to the sub basement floor. It seems that the waterfall was meant to disguise it, so most people who were given the special wristbands out there usually won’t notice it.”
Sirou and his group had realized this as they’d already acquired such wristbands before they’d even arrived at the club; and even though it was likely that people witnessed some others using the stairway hidden underneath the waterfall, few if any ever thought to enjoy themselves at whatever place lay beneath it.
“Let’s go…watch your step, though,” Sirou said, and the two went through the waterfall together. The moment they did so, the flowing water reacted to the special wristbands they were wearing and opened the door that was installed onto the rocky surface, the water parting to reveal a dimly lit stairway underneath them.
Sirou and Yui slowly walked down the steps—the steps extended almost four floors down before they finally arrived at their destination after a while. Before them was a massive space with a ceiling of such a tall height that one would never think it was possible to build such a massive interior underground.
“—————”
Yui swallowed hard as she stood beside Sirou, eyeing the massive space before her with great bewilderment.
Installed within the floor were individual, small pools of about two or three meters in diameter, each of either circular or quadrilateral shapes; each pool was being used by a couple.
Specially manufactured water filled the pool meant for these couples, such that one could only see the surface and not what was happening beneath the water. But what exactly were couples doing in such confined pools with their bodies stuck close together?
The answer was clear given their movements, their expressions, and the moaning noises they were making.
This was a secret space for the forbidden built directly opposite the main section of the club—a paradise for those unsatisfied with the normal excitement and thrill of mere clubbing and desired even more obscene desires.
“…”
Now bearing witness to the unseen side of the Heaven’s Ocean’s club with her own eyes, Yui’s cheeks took on a hint of red as she became lost for words.
Although she steeled herself and had an initial expectation of the venue when she was first briefed about it, Yui’s resolve crumbled the moment she laid eyes on the actual reality of the situation, which left her with only hesitation given that it was far beyond what she expected.
And this was notwithstanding the fact that she had another extremely troublesome issue stirring within her.
“Chairwoman…Chairwoman, are you okay?” Sirou tightened his grip on her waist, addressing her with surprise.
“O-Oh…I was a little surprised, that’s all…I’m fine.”
Yui gulped and nodded, but the mark of Lust had already appeared in her intoxicated eyes, and Sirou could feel the warmth of her rising heat transferring to his body from hers.
…Well, I suppose this is only to be expected.
The extremely obscene sight before her that had far exceeded her expectations had already triggered the mark of Lust—and she began to stagger, unable to stand up straight.
“Mmm…I’m sorry, Takanashi-kun,” Yui leaned into his arms, entrusting her body to him.
“There’s no need to apologize. This happens to be a place where we can do as we please,after all.” Sirou said, gently carrying Yui as he looked around—spotting a vacant pool at the left corner of the massive room, Sirou quickly approached it with her.
“Let’s get in…it’s going to be a little cold, so do hang in there,” Sirou said, and he carried her into one of the empty couples’ pools.
Yui could feel the pleasant chill of water envelop her as Sirou slowly carried her into one of the couples’ pools, the water level reaching up to their chests.
Ah…
Yui suddenly noticed something as she entered the pool; although the water could not be seen through earlier, she could clearly see their bodies within the water now that they were directly within it.
“This water is made as such that it reflects light in a particular manner. If you’re not close enough to the pool or eye the pool from a particular angle, you won’t be able to see what’s in it. Only those within the pool can see what’s going on.”
“You mean only the people who are in the pool can see…”
In other words—
…So no one can see us apart from Takanashi-kun and myself…
Lust assailed her at the thought, causing her to make a throaty sound.
Yui knew full well why she had been taken to such a depraved place; now was her opportunity to attract the attention of Antonio Fabbroni, who was likely going to be observing them from the VIP room deep within the facility.
And they were to do that in this lower ground floor by pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend and getting intimate with one another in the pool.
Of course, Yui didn’t want to lay bare her lustful state for a heinous murderer to enjoy; however, if it she could be useful to Sirou and the Brigade by feigning a romantic relationship with Sirou, which would allow them to capture Antonio Fabbroni and put his chain of victims to an end, she resolved to endure no matter how embarrassing it would be.
In addition, Mika had also warned her of the risk of the mark of Lust triggering when she would come to such a place, but she was also told to endure as she played the role of Sirou’s romantic partner.
And Yui was now taking the initiative, having steeled herself to carry through with it.
“…!”
Yui shuddered at the thought of the scarily embarrassing things that they were about to do.
This would be different from when Sirou had first calmed her down back at the safehouse—this was a place with a lot of people.
…Still…
The couples in the other pools had far exceeded the extremity of what Sirou and Yui were going to do; even then, the pool was made as such that they could not be seen, and due to Mika’s enchanted accessory, they could not be noticed or recognized by any of the surrounding couples. Even now, a couple in the pool next to theirs was completely absorbed in their own world of pleasure, uncaring about the prospect that others could be seeing them—a couple of two women.
“Aaah, yaaahn…mmph…fuaaahn! ♥”
“Haaah, mmph…yaah…haaaah! ♥”
Not minding their stripped swimsuits floating atop the water, the two women continued dreamily desiring one another.
Witnessing such a lewd spectacle for the first time, the lustful instincts within her welled up into an even higher level.
“Nnn…Takanashi-kun…no, I’m…” Her eyes wet with carnal desires, she stared up suffocating at Sirou in his arms.
“Mmm…”
Sirou…her lover for the day—nodded in response, slowly raising her chin toward him.
“————”
And Yui shut her eyes, and their lips soon locked. Sirou immediately attempted to slide his tongue into her mouth, perhaps wanting to appease her as soon as possible.
“Aaah, nn….mmph, haaah…chuu…fuu…mmph…nnn ♥”
Yui’s arms wrapped around Sirou’s back at the passionate kiss, inviting his tongue within her mouth—a subtle sign that she would allow Sirou to do whatever he wanted with her body.
Understanding it, Sirou began to move his bands all over her body, causing sweet moans to spill from her. His hands groped her chest and her butt through her swimsuit, immediately sending a rush of pleasure through the core of her being.
“Yaaah—aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!♥”
As Sirou continued to caress her body, sensual moaning noises escaped Yui’s lips as they momentarily parted from Sirou’s. Her body had entered an intoxicated trance due to the activation of the mark of Lust, and an instant, incredible pleasure was coursing through her body, causing it to feel painfully and unstoppably hot despite the cold water of the pool.
This wasn’t going to be enough, however—not to capture Antonio’s attention or to appease the mark of Lust.
Sirou needed to do what needed to be done.
And knowing this, Sirou reached into the fabric of her swimsuit to grope her breasts and butt directly. Her body felt extremely sensitive from the pleasure she was experiencing, Sirou’s hands shaping and groping her womanly and shapely parts of her body into obscene shapes and sizes.
Climaxing in an erotically depraved motion, Yui’s mind turned stark white in an instant.
…I’ve already let it out so easily…
It was so embarrassing for her that she felt as if she could cry, and she felt as if though she had forgotten how to breathe.
“! Haah,aaah…haa…nn…fuu…ahh!♥”
The hot, sweet and long overdue sigh was a byproduct of the intense climax she experienced, and her vision, having only seen pure white for a while, gradually and hazily returned to its usual state, whereby Yui could then see Sirou kindly watching her.
“…Chairwoman? Antonio Fabbroni’s room happens to be on the same floor, so I think we’ll have to go into more extreme things next. That said, when we’re about to flaunt ourselves in front him, we’ll have to be careful and you’ll have to pretend that you’re not bothered by all this at all…that’s fine, right?”
Those were words that Mika had told her yesterday; there was a method to suppress the effects of the mark of Lust, which was to satisfy and sublimate a large portion of its activated lust beforehand.
They had long gone far beyond the scope of simply acting as lovers; nevertheless, Yui had to capture Antonio’s attention and assert her presence, for Sirou would not be able to capture him were she to fail to do so.
“…Mmm…”
Staring at Yui with her intoxicated gaze, she willingly put her arms around him and clung to him tightly—her way of telling him that she would do her best.
“—————”
Returning her desperate embrace, Sirou’s hands reached behind her, untying the string of her swimsuit that was wrapping around her neck and her back, as well as the knots that held it in place on both sides of her waist.
…Ah…
Yui was now stark naked in the pool, stripped of all the clothing that did little to cover her—beyond even what she had experienced in the safehouse, where she had her panties on up until the very end. Of course, they had the special reflective water and Mika’s accessory, which meant that there was no need to worry about anyone noticing them.
Yui let out a sound that was barely detectable. It didn’t matter to her that no one around her could see her—Sirou could now see her as she was completely naked. The extreme embarrassment of the situation along with her already loose feelings stimulated the mark of Lust even more, as her nipples grew erect simply by remaining in the cool water, her lower abdomen swelling with an unfathomable heat. The lingering sensations of her previous climax still stirring within her, she felt as if though she were being caressed all over simply by remaining in the pool itself.
“Nnn…aaah…nnn♥”
Her body writhed in response, causing the slightly reverberation in the water of the pool. Her highly sensitized breasts and butt flinched at the smooth sensation.
…But that’s…I…the water of the pool…
Her lust replaced her rationale that was processing such an unbelievable reality as it attacked her with an even stronger excitement, overwhelming her with carnal sensations and rendering her unable to think right.
“Over here, Chairwoman…place your hands on the edge of the pool and lift your butt up.”
“…Okay.”
Pleasure brimming in her entranced eyes, she did as she was told—she was completely servient to Sirou when she was taken over by her lust. She jutted her buttocks out of the water as Sirou then piled his own body onto hers. His large hands reached over to the front of Yui’s body, his left hand reaching for her breast while his right reached for her crotch near her inner thigh.
“…!”
Yui turned her head over her shoulder, realizing what they were about to do.
“We’re about to do it like everyone else around here is now, alright…here goes.” Sirou said quietly—at the next moment, Sirou’s hand roughly groped her breast while the other slapped her butt.
“Yaaah! Aaaaah, haaaaaaaah~~~~!♥”
Yui then climaxed yet again amidst the splashing of water in the small pool and her moaning voice echoing across the lower ground floor. The pleasure she was feeling caused her vision to flicker and her consciousness to leave her almost immediately. Her fair back arched backward, though Sirou could not see her expression as she flinched due to his position as he collected her.
They didn’t cross the line, of course—however, the effects of the mark of Lust meant that she was feeling pleasures an ordinary person would not be able to experience.
“Good…keep this up…lose yourself even more,” Sirou whispered.
As he maintained his stance on Yui, he increased the level of aggression he was unleashing on her. His fingers pinched her nipples and twisted them in an upwards motion, bringing about another wave of unrelenting pleasure that was of an entirely different level.
“! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh————~~~~~~!”
Brought to the brink and unleashing yet another, more extreme climax as she splashed the water of the pool, the consecutive climaxes were placing what remained of her rationale on the verge of collapse.
“….Ah…aaa…nnn…haaah…!….♥”
Another climax blinded her of her own sanity.
…I…how could I be like this…
Once more—one more time was all it took to leave her unable to think about anything anymore.
Her rationale struggled to tell her that she couldn’t let this happen and that she had to break the cycle of unending pleasure she was feeling.
…Ah…
Yui suddenly felt something hard pressing against her butt; perhaps she was unaware of what it was and what it entailed yesterday, but in her current obscene state, she was now familiar with sexually related matters, and she knew full well what it was that was pressing against the crevice of her butt.
…Takanashi-kun is…getting aroused…what do I do?
Sirou was now seeing her as someone he wanted to have sex with…the obscene reality somehow only managed to excite Yui even more even as she was already drowned in her own lust.
She was not simply being caressed; the action on its own was causing Sirou to feel aroused.
Yui was being engraved with a lust belonging to an evil deity that once ruled upon another world; it was no stretch to say that she was experiencing a pleasure that far exceeded anyone else in this underground floor, and she was unable to resist such a corrupt form of pleasure while the mark of Lust remained active.
“…”
That said, Yui had been stripped of her strength at this point; acknowledging her weakness, she let go of what remained of her rationale, leaving only her sexual instincts as she surrendered herself to Sirou caressing her all over.
Her pleasure escalated yet again as she fell to the Deadly Sin of Lust.
“Aaaah…nnn…fuaaan!♥ Yaaaah, Takanashi-kun, aah….aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh~~~~~~~!♥”
From then on, the small pool became their personal bed as she revelled in the carnal pleasures of having Sirou caress her breasts, butt, and even her most precious spot. Her waist twisted as she dreamily absorbed herself in the pleasures Sirou was giving her. With each approaching and eventually succeeding climaxes, her thoughts of Sirou only swelled in her mind as if he and his pleasures meant everything to her. It was all a sensual hell of pleasure meant for the pure maiden that Yui was.
That being said, Yui did not realize the moment when the mark of Lust was finally beginning to be appeased; when she gradually came to, she found herself pressed upon the rim of the pool.
“Haaah….nnn♥ mmph….haaah, mm….Takanashi-kun….chuu…♥”
Sirou’s hand gently pressed itself on her breasts as their tongues intertwined together in a viscous mess of their passionate kissing, unheeding the presence of the surrounding couples, and she enjoyed the pleasurable sensation of their kissing despite already having done so many times at this point.
And they went further into it, with Sirou sucking on her breasts and reaching to grope her butt, Yui’s limbs going around Sirou’s neck and back, locking their bodies in a tight, obscene embrace. Yui had acted all out of her consciousness, and with every moment that Sirou caressed her breasts, Yui’s body shuddered reflexively at the dangerous sensations she was feeling, letting out sweet moans between the momentarily parting of their kisses.
And each reaction was followed by small, but clear climaxes from her.
…Haaah…aaah…Takanashi-kun…
She’d completely forgotten that it was all supposed to be an act—she had desired him in a way that was lewd in every sense of the word.
Afterwards, Sirou waited for Yui to recover after calming her from the effects of the Mark of Lust.
The risk of Yui’s currently intoxicated and very obscene state exciting Sirou was of no issue to Sirou; it was likely that he could simply and forcibly suppress the side effects of his supernatural abilities if he wanted to.
Having slowly regained her consciousness, the first thing Yui did was to put her swimsuit back on, and noticing her embarrassed state, Sirou gently kissed her, as if to tell her that everything would be alright.
“Nnn…chuu…haah…mmph…chuu…nnn…”
Having reached the point where she would willingly accept Sirou’s lips, Yui sidled onto Sirou in an adorable manner, and Sirou waited for Yui to calm down within his embrace in the pool.
Afterwards, Sirou and Yui ventured deeper into the lower ground floor until they arrived at a thin passage that led them to a massive door after a short moment of walking.
They had reached their destination—the underground VIP room of the Heaven’s Ocean Club.
Four men in white suits were standing by in front of the large door—they were Antonio Fabbroni’s guards.
“—Hey, working hard out here, eh.”
The moment he called out to them, Sirou deactivated the recognition mechanism of his awakened mark that would otherwise hide their presence from the guards.
“—You are…” The guards could clearly see the duo’s sudden arrival and quickly became vigilant.
“We’re from the Hungry Wolf Brigade. We have a meeting with your young lord, so to speak. Tell him that we’ve arrived,” Sirou revealed ahead that he had a particular semblance of knowledge on Fabbroni.
The guards then looked at one another, and eventually calmed their wary expressions.
“…Wait here.”
A guard gave that short reply as the door was made open for this entry.
A normal guard would have immediately acted against a suspicious individual almost immediately; however, if they acted on their own accord, they could potentially anger the person they were guarding under the pretense that “they had ruined his fun”, and the worst case scenario would entail the guards paying for their mistake with their lives.
…Even the guards have it rough around the guy. Sirou lamented on the hardship that they had to endure working for such a man.
“Do you think you handled things smoothly?” Yui whispered to Sirou unnoticed, to which he responded with “I think so.”
It was then that the guard that went inside to confirm things opened the door from within and came out.
“It appears he would like to meet you. Enter.”
The guards sidled themselves onto the walls of both sides, permitting the two entry into the room.
“Alright—much obliged.”
Leaving that final reply, Sirou walked deep into the room, Yui closely following him.
Part 5
The underground VIP room felt as its space was larger than what was suggested in the diagram depicting it. The interior was divided into three segments—a leisure space, a pool space and a bed space, and the space had been designed to provide an ample depth and sense of spaciousness.
Sounds could be heard deep within the room—the sound of water, the sound of women moaning within.
“———————”
Sirou and Yui approached the room, eventually passing a large monitor installed on a wall of the leisure space.
“…”
Yui’s brows furrowed anxiously as she noticed the multi-display on the screen; each image covered an area of the Heaven’s Ocean Club, such that one could survey the club from the monitor alone. It encompassed not only the main floor and the couples’ pools they were in awhile ago in addition to various angles of the lower ground floor, but even the women’s changing room and the shower cubicles.
They’d expected this, of course; this was exactly why they’d planned for Yui to wear her swimsuit under another set of clothes to minimize the amount of time she would be alone when she needed to change. However, having to see the reality of the fact that someone was peeping around here for themselves was absolutely revolting.
Noticing Yui’s disturbed expression, Sirou wrapped his arm around her waist and kept her close to him as he scanned deeper into the interior of the room; in the middle of the room was the pool space, where five young women in swimsuits were playing with a beach ball within a square, medium-sized pool of a 10 x 10 m area.
The women were unable to recognize them due to the recognition mechanism that had been activated by their marks.
However—
“—Yo, I see you’re here. I’ll be there in a minute, so please, do make yourself comfortable on the sofas over there.”
A jubilant voice suddenly called out to them, and Sirou turned toward where it was coming from.
“————————”
Atop the luxurious canopy bed in the room was the source of the moaning noises of women they heard—a lone man was being surrounded by six young girls who were clinging onto him.
The women surrounding him were not wearing any swimsuits, but they were not naked either; instead, they were dressed in bustiers and babydoll dresses, attire that were meant to excite men more than naked women.
The moaning noises were coming from a total of four women who were joining the man on the bed, their faces wet with obscene pleasure due to the man behind them spanking their rears.
It was the culprit of the Pinky Promise Case.
…As I thought.
The person had addressed Sirou because he recognized him; it meant that he had already identified him despite Sirou and his group having activated their recognition mechanisms.
And he was no acquaintance of theirs, either—it was at that moment that Sirou finally became certain of something.
The young man before him was a high-levelled supernatural ability user.
“Glad we could finally meet at last. A shame that I had to do so while you’re in the middle of your own fun, though,” Sirou said.
“Oh, please, don’t mind that at all. I’ve been expecting you myself.”
The man on the bed smiled at Sirou’s entrance.
“Welcome, Takanashi Sirou of the Hungry Wolf Brigade…I am Antonio Fabbroni.”
Part 6
Sirou and Yui were now face to face with Antonio Fabbroni.
A single, durable waterproof glass table divided them from their seats.
Yui had been wearing a very distressed expression for quite a while since she sat down with Sirou at the sight before her.
…Well, I guess there’s no helping it.
He was now directly in front of them; his legs were spread as he sat on the sofa as if it were a throne with a naked girl on each side.
Yui’s attention was instead fixated on the space between Antonio’s legs, where a third young woman was kneeling before him…with her face buried within his crotch, such that there was no proper way for them to discern her expression.
“Haah…chuu…nnn…chuu…mmmph…”
The young woman’s head stirred as she let out sweet moaning noises, and a watery noise could be heard as she continued doing what she was doing. Antonio noticed Sirou’s stare at the reaction that Yui was giving, lightly spreading his arms.
“Oh, please, don’t mind me. The truth is, I’m actually quite shy when it comes to strangers. Compared to what I’m capable of doing with women, as you can see, I’m not exactly the best and dealing with folks I’m meeting for the first time.”
“Quite the serious problem you have there. One that seems to remain to this very day,” Sirou said, making a poor joke out of the impression he was getting from Antonio.
“Ah? Oh, come on, don’t give me such a dull reception. You’re the one that’s known as the Walking Dick that prowls the streets around here, no? Aren’t you going to enjoy yourself with that little pet beside you?” Antonio said, turning toward Yui, who was sitting beside Sirou.
“…Say what you will. Would you do me the honor, then, Chairwoman?”
“I wonder if you have other options available to you,” Yui replied to him with a cold stare.
“…I see,” Sirou nodded once at Yui’s words, before he surveyed the room and then spoke in a loud voice:
“Well, excuse me, but is there anyone around here who’d be willing to suck me…ouch, hey, what was that for, Chairwoman?”
Sirou was unable to finish his comment because Yui had pulled his ear.
“Enough of this nonsense. We should really cut to the chase.”
…She’ll be fine if she’s going to act like that. Sirou thought, noticing Yui’s expression as she finally released him.
Despite the level of obscenity she was being exposed to, she was also being exposed to someone utterly disgusting: it was clear that Yui thought of Antonio as someone who couldn’t even be called the worst, his actions having far exceeded such a level of deplorableness. He had also been capable of making a poor joke and getting away with it for the most part, and he’d already carefully dispelled the effects of the mark of Lust back at the small couples’ pool. The effects of the mark of Lust would thus not trigger even if Antonio was to expose her with even more extreme levels of sexual obscenity.
That being said, Sirou knew that the time was right.
“—Well, let’s get down to business, shall we?”
Kosaki Yui swallowed at Sirou’s declaration for things to finally begin—Antonio Fabbroni’s leisurely exterior suddenly changed to a beastly, savage expression.
“I’ve heard of you, you know. Hungry Wolf Brigade and all…the strongest supernatural ability organization around these parts, or so I’m informed,” Antonio sneered. “I was expecting your arrival here to end in bloodshed, but civil conversation? Haven’t you come here knowing exactly why we’ve marched onto your turf?”
“Unfortunately, I’m here because I’m supposed to clean up the Pinky Promise Case. A conversation would be a simple luxury if your death would spell the end of the event, but…”
There was a pause.
“Not all the girls that have succumbed to those wicked ways of yours are here, are they?”
Sirou was suggesting a possibility; the police had compiled a list of missing couples and their related victims, and some of the missing persons were indeed in the room they were now in. However, there were actually tens of missing people on the list, though Antonio may not necessarily be involved with all of their disappearances.
Yui thought of the other possibility that Sirou had in mind; Antonio had arrived to Neo Kichijoji from the European Embassy outside the supernatural ability zone, which meant that there were no kidnappings while he was outside of it.
“You’ve invited us into this room with knowledge of who I am. Surely you’ve done so knowing that you have an insurance plan up your sleeve, and not simply out of pure interest.”
“You’re using some of the girls as hostages as your personal backup plan—low, and absolutely despicable. And here I thought I would at least hear you out first.”
“So you’ve thought of the worst-case scenario, eh…the Japanese truly are timid. Not so tough for Neo Kichijoji’s strongest, after all. Still, if you knew that I had a selection of pets playing with me all along, why accept my invitation? You wouldn’t have been able to mess things up for me if you weren’t sure if I had any hostages kept in my back pocket.”
“No. Why would anyone willingly want to play along with someone with such disgusting tastes as yourself? We’ve deduced that you have the twisted fetish of targeting only couples and enjoy yourself violating women in front of their own romantic partners…naturally, the Heaven’s Ocean would be your most desirable playground.”
And the reason for that was because—
“With the Atsuta Group pulling the strings for you, you’re given the luxury to do as you please—and you’ve been offered a selection of women to your liking as you eye every nook and cranny of the building from this very room. Leaving you alone will only mean more victims will fall prey to you—and we can’t have that.”
“Well, I’ll be…so you already know so much. As I thought, you and I are quite alike, aren’t we?” Antonio laughed, feeling amused.
“…!”
Yui wanted to raise her voice and object, but she held her tongue before any words came out; she wanted to tell Sirou that it was fruitless to continue such a conversation with Antonio.
Sirou and Yui had come to this VIP room to find the murderer of the Pinky Promise Case—a room that Antonio used to fulfill his frighteningly dark desires.
It was clear that Antonio wanted to violate Yui in front of Sirou; he’d been eyeing her ravenously and disturbingly for quite some time now, and he was still doing that at this very moment.
To think that such a horrible person like him exists…
She refused to offer her body and soul to him even if it meant at the cost of her own life, however, the many women in the room had already done so, having lost their sanity over the pleasure and bliss of the disgusting things they were partaking in. Scorn was not something Antonio deserves for his actions—he was absolutely unforgivable.
She would voice her objections the moment she reached her limit.
However—
It was evident that Antonio was enjoying himself even as Sirou was spouting insults and criticism toward him; his mind only thought of the inevitable moment where he would finally violate Yui, who was thinking about Sirou and feeling angry for him.
That said, Yui’s best way to stand her ground was to not give any reaction to his provocations.
“Still, if you know so much already, what is it that could possibly ask of me?” Antonio asked, wanting to know why he had arrived.
Sirou then gave a calm, clear reply to his question.
“—I’d ask the reason why you’d go out of your way to cut the left pinkies of the women you’ve been kidnapping.”
Sirou gave his own query to Antonio, who was now sitting right in front of him.
“You seem to have had that putrid fetish of yours even while you were in your own country, but you never really bothered to cut off the fingers of the women you’re messing with while you remained there. Why the sudden change of style upon your arrival here?”
He was asking the reason for the brutality involved in the Pinky Promise case.
“Oh, I see…so that’s what you’re so curious about,” Antonio shrugged with a smile, seemingly disappointed at the question he was posed.
“I have a very particular taste of the playthings I want. As you can see, I really like who I surround myself with,” He spread out his arms, as if to show off all the women he’d gathered in the VIP room to them.
“Even so, even I tend to miss the mark with my choices sometimes…you know, sometimes they don’t exactly give me the best service and all, or they don’t exactly give me the reactions I had in mind.”
“Their pinkies are simply part of a penalty game I’ve set for them whenever they fail to provide me with the fun I want.”
“A penalty game…” Sirou’s eyes narrowed.
“Exactly,” Antonio said, nodding excitedly. “I’m a big fan of the Cool Japan slogan (A slogan of Japan that expresses Japan’s status as a cultural superpower), you see. I’ve had quite an interest in it for quite a while now. After all, isn’t cutting off one’s pinky a traditional penalty game among the Japanese mafia you call yakuza?” Antonio said, his words spoken almost in jest.
“…I see.” Something cold was taking root within Sirou’s heart. “Then why murder them?”
“Come on…why play with spoilt toys that have lost a finger? Such women are disgusting, don’t you think?”
Nonchalantly, Antonio revealed that he cut off the pinkies of the women he disliked, which made them more disgusting to him, and their penalty by his terms extended to death.
It was nothing but a game to him—nothing but a means for his own fun. Such was the truth behind the countless victims and suffering wrought by the Pinky Promise Case.
“Is that so…very enlightening.”
It was at that moment that Sirou made a silent decision in his heart.
But at the same moment, Yui suddenly moved before Sirou did.
She didn’t care about anything anymore—she didn’t care that she would be delighting the man before her with what she was doing. She couldn’t bear it anymore.
He’d violated, hurt and murdered young women for preposterous reasons; and from the way he had the gall to say that he and Sirou were alike to his filthy smile he was flashing at her, it was simply too much for Yui to keep in.
Her hand reached for the glass on the table filled with a cocktail, her mind fully intent on spilling its contents onto Antonio’s face.
“—Don’t move.”
The moment Antonio gave that command, Yui’s body was suddenly and forcibly stopped in place.
…Eh…?
The sudden occurrence caused Yui to be unable to retain her grip on the glass as it fell to the floor, almost in slow motion.
“———————”
And the very moment the glass shattered into pieces, Yui’s consciousness sunk into darkness.
Part 7
“That’s it…that’s what I want to see,” Antonio said, eyeing Yui’s immobilized form with a satisfied smile.
“…”
Despite Yui’s peculiar behavior, however, Sirou was unable to respond.
“Humph…so this is the Hungry Wolf Brigade…how very trifling,” Antonio said, laughing mockingly.
The supernatural ability that Antonio Fabbroni acquired upon arriving at the supernatural ability zone was the ability to manipulate minds with his words.
It was not a combat-based ability; the ability itself had the criteria of Antonio maintaining eye contact with his target for at least ten seconds before giving out his command, and he could maintain this control for ten seconds. However, there was a notable risk to this ability in that Antonio himself had to consider how to kill any adversaries within ten seconds; it was easy for him to dispose of supernatural ability users that possessed their own combat-based abilities, but even if he was dealing with enemies without supernatural abilities, he could simply get rid of them with firearms or other alternative weapons.
However, Antonio believed that he had the most powerful supernatural ability in his possession.
True enough, buying the ten seconds he needed in battle was a significant hurdle, but one that he could easily circumvent through various means. Any reckless opponent not aware of his supernatural ability would not have enough lives to compensate; Antonio thus rarely lost apart from having to be cautious of long-ranged attacks such as from long-ranged attacks or ambushes.
In other words, he would always have a solution so long as he knew what supernatural ability his opponent possessed. This was why he defended himself by concealing the fact that he had a supernatural ability when facing other supernatural ability users.
Though the Hungry Wolf Brigade was famous within Neo Kichijoji, the supernatural abilities its members possessed was surrounded in mystery; it was impossible to not have any concrete eyewitnesses to its members’ abilities, and even then, it was not impossible to guess what their abilities were. It was thus likely that they were setting a trap.
…I’m sure of that.
There was no reason for them to intentionally leave behind traces of the essence of their supernatural abilities; surely it was all a ploy to mislead their enemies and trap them, and their unknowable status was why the Hungry Wolf Brigade was known as being the strongest within Neo Kichijoji.
However—
“Your arrogance believing that you’re the strongest among Neo Kichijoji is why you’ve lost.”
Surely Sirou did not expect such a humiliating defeat at Antonio’s hands.
For one, Antonio was extremely careful and did not let any details slip. Sirou was thus no match for him in that regard, for Antonio did not simply rise among the ranks of the Fabbroni Union he was affiliated with while contending with the various cliques within it simply because he was the son of the mafia group’s boss. What made him the prime candidate for being the group’s leader for the next generation was the fact that he had two dominant personalities—one that was bold and brazen, and another that was extremely careful.
“None of you were aware that I would be ready to use my supernatural ability at any moment, now, were you?”
Antonio did not activate his ability for the first time when he said “Don’t move”.
Antonio had already entered the minds of both Yui and Sirou back then; he had also intentionally provoked them during their subsequent conversation, sneaking in words that would enable him to steal away their power and their strength.
Antonio had now restricted Sirou and Yui’s movements; with that, preparations were now complete.
“Well, it’s about time…come, do me on the bed.”
He then eyed the young woman that Sirou had brought along with him once again.
“This one is…”
From the moment she first caught his eye when embracing Sirou back at the pool in the sub basement, his impression of her was that her appearance and figure was a lot different from many of the women he was granted up until now.
And she would be his sex slave henceforth. Feeling a tremendous excitement welling within him, he extended his right hand toward Yui, beckoning her.
“How boring…over here, now.”
Come, Antonio said—but she did not.
“Huh…?”
He instead let out an exclamation that he himself thought was out of place.
Before he realized it, his right hand that was extending itself toward Yui had been pierced by a blade and stuck onto the glass table. It took him a moment before he finally processed the sensation and spectacle.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Kaaah, guh…what the hell is this!!!??”
Antonio tumbled off the sofa and onto the floor, tightly grabbing his right wrist with his left hand, writhing against the burning pain.
“What do you mean, ‘as you can see’…unbearable, isn’t it?”
A composed voice spoke directly in front of him—Antonio then raised his head, seeing its source looming over him.
It was Sirou, whose consciousness Antonio thought he possessed under his control.
Part 8
“As I thought, you had some sort of mind control ability…the ability to manipulate one’s consciousness is quite powerful no doubt, but only against those that can be affected by it,” Sirou said, staring down at Antonio callously.
“Tch…damn you, how did you manage to see through that…!”
“I managed to deduce that you were the culprit of the Pinky Promise Case—that’s why.”
Even the police had managed to pinpoint Antonio Fabbroni as the killer of the Pinky Promise Case; however, despite the appearance of seven victims thus far, there had been no insight whatsoever on the supernatural ability Antonio possessed.
“I managed to gain intel about everything related to you—your identity, the fact that you were using Heaven’s Ocean as a base. But it was odd that there was no information pertaining to the supernatural abilities you possessed.”
That said—
“We simply thought of things the other way. We were never really puzzled by why we couldn’t figure out your supernatural ability—we simply know that one couldn’t simply learn what it was due to the supernatural ability itself, much like what we do.”
Given that fact, it was thus very likely that Antonio possessed some form of mind control ability.
“It’s easy to assume that you’ve controlled the consciousness of others to eliminate their memory relating to your supernatural ability thoroughly. And this isn’t limited to the prey you’ve captured to fulfill your own disgusting desire, but also any surrounding eyewitnesses who have caught you using your supernatural ability. Am I wrong?”
It had all been mere possibility, of course; nevertheless, Sirou’s confidence in his assumption changed when he noticed the women surrounding Antonio, on the bed and within the pool, and how they had not responded to them whatsoever throughout their conversation. While it was understandable that they would not respond to Sirou given his awakened mark and Yui given the accessory she was wearing that was given to her by Mika, it was odd that the women did not respond to Antonio whatsoever.
It thus confirmed that Antonio’s supernatural ability caused his victims to lose their consciousness.
Even so, even assuming one wished to brainwash someone by drugs while retaining their personality, it was odd that the victim would be left with the inability to produce any response whatsoever; on the other hand, the phenomenon could not be achieved by completely destroying their personality via an overdose either.
It was impossible for the women in the pool to be completely absorbed in their fun even under the haze of alcohol—and entirely impossible for one whose consciousness and personality had been completely destroyed.
“…Still, my supernatural ability should have still activated…even so, why!?”
“I’m sorry to say that mind manipulation or similar abilities won’t work on me.”
Sirou was referring to one of the supernatural abilities of Sin he possessed—Sloth. Sloth was sublimated into Belligerence, which allowed him to split apart anything that stood in his path. While primarily an offensive ability, he was able to use it defensively—in this case granting him the ability to split apart any attempts of mental interference and manipulation.
Although the ability entailed that he would be able to completely cut off any of his opponents’ supernatural abilities, it also made it impossible for Sirou to properly detect if there had been any invasive attempt on his mind. While it was to Sirou’s benefit and safety, it also meant that he would be unable to sense and keep track of the conditions of the allies surrounding him if they happened to be exposed to danger.
This ability was thus limited in a way that it only worked on mental interferences or psychological damage that was corrupting, invasive, or polluting in nature.
It was impossible for Antonio to even attempt to break past such a defense.
“…”
As Antonio stood in shock at the reality before him, Sirou attended to Yui, who had lost her consciousness.
Mmm…she’s alright.
Sirou eyed the faint glow coming from her earring; understanding that they were facing an enemy with some semblance of mental interference ability, Mika had augmented the accessory to provide its wearer with some semblance of defense against mental intervention. Yui’s immobilized state was a result of the accessory having sensed a particular level of mental inference and fortifying its defense against it. Yui had been unaware of the earring’s qualities, however.
…Still.
It was all good and well for Sirou, however; after all, he would be able to do things to Antonio that he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to do if Yui were to consciously watch him.
“Well, then…”
The moment Sirou prepared to make his next move, there was a sudden commotion; the door of the VIP room suddenly opened from outside.
“…! Over here! Hurry down here and kill him!” Antonio cried, addressing the guards who were supposed to be on standby outside.
There was no need for his supernatural ability; Antonio’s orders were absolute to his guards.
However, no one who came into the room acted out Antonio’s command.
The one who came in was instead a blonde young man wearing the waiter’s uniform of the Heaven’s Ocean Club.
“ ‘Hurry down here and kill him’? Gracious, I’ll tell you that.”
Antonio eyed the young man on the door with his right hand still pierced as the unknown person mocked a word of praise.
It was Sirou’s partner, Midou Renya—and Antonio could not comprehend the meaning of his appearance.
“W-What happened to the guys out there?”
“Huh? You talking about the group that was enjoying themselves in the VIP room upstairs? Or are you talking about the bastards of the Atsuta Group in that other private room?”
“He’s probably referring to the guys outside this room rather than the ones on the other floor. Weren’t there like, four guys in white suits out there or something?”
“Oh, them…well, he can ask for whoever he wants, but for the time being, I made sure the more troublesome folk were taken care of—every last one of them.”
“Wha—”
Antonio was utterly flabbergasted at what he was seeing and hearing, and Renya gave the bewildered man a sidelong glance.
“Every last one of them…and how exactly did you judge that?”
“I decided I’d walk in announcing that I’m looking to beat the guy up, and I proceeded to mop the floor with anyone that actually dared to attack me.”
“Ah. You did the right thing, then. No problem with that.” Sirou said. “Still, you’re sooner than expected…were they not all dispersed?”
Renya would have no problems handling the issue if it were simply a matter of taking down his guards and allies; however, it was important that Renya acted quietly so that Antonio would not be alerted and given a chance to escape. It would require a lot of effort for Renya to manage to miraculously take down the entirety of Antonio’s guards without making any unwanted noise.
“No, they were actually all split up. I just happened to have a really reliable source of help, that’s all.”
And as if Renya’s words were the cue for her entrance, the clacking sound of a pair of thin heels could be heard resounding across the floor as a particular person entered the room—the strongest woman the two have ever known, wearing a composed smile on her face.
It was the leader of the Hungry Wolf Brigade—Ogami Mika.
“Brigade leader…why have you arrived at the scene of the crime?” Sirou’s eyes widened at her unexpected appearance.
The case tonight was initially entrusted to Sirou, Renya and Yui; the modus operandi of the Hungry Wolf Brigade during situations was to put faith in their comrades, and it was thus not necessary for anyone not involved to participate. Sirou felt a somewhat refreshing surprise at this extremely rare occurrence.
“I sensed waves of mental inference from the charm I gave the girl.” Mika said, eyeing Yui’s unconscious state as the latter remained on the sofa. “It’s true that I suggested that she come along, but asking her to stay here for too long while she’s clearly being targeted would only bring about unnecessary risks. That’s why I’ve arrived.”
“I’m grateful, but…couldn’t you have asked Mikoto or Rin to come here instead?”
“I was the one who ordered her to come here. Do you think an irresponsible woman who asks someone else to check on a subordinate she put at risk has the right to lead you lot?”
“…Hey, Renya. Our brigade leader’s really the best, isn’t she?”
“Yeap. No objections there.”
Renya and Sirou nodded in agreement as Mika approached the unconscious Yui on the sofa, carrying her in her slender arms.
“Well, I’ll take the girl home first. You guys should finish things here soon and head back quickly as well.”
However—
“I imagine the both of you know this by now, but that guy over there really needs to own up for everything he’s done. He’s not someone who needs to atone for what he’s done as just a filthy piece of trash…he’s already too far gone.”
With that final reminder, Mika left the room, carrying Yui with her—and all the while, she never addressed, talked to or even looked at Antonio.
That was what the man simply amounted to in the eyes of Ogami Mika.
“Sorry about that…let’s continue, shall we?”
“…!?”
“What’s the matter? I haven’t even done anything to you yet,” Sirou addressed Antonio, who was startled at having Sirou’s attention return to him.
“Still, the things he’s done really makes me want to vomit. You sure you wanna let him off with an easy death or something?”
“I suppose not. Still, the girls around here aren’t free of his mind control yet. It’d be nice if the effects of his ability that causes them to lose their consciousness just fades over time, but there’s also the possibility that the only way to get rid of it is if he willingly dispels its effects.”
“…! Even though I’ve said all that…!” Antonio did his best to put up a brave front, the curved smile on his face perhaps coming from the fact that he knew he still had the women in the room under his control.
“Hey, Renya, do we have something of a European joke here?”
“Well, I can’t really see myself laughing due to how unsightly said joke is.”
Sirou and Renya let out wry, resigned laughs at their exchange.
“Well, what do we do now?”
“Let’s see…well, it seems the guy enjoys the different way the Japanese yakuza do their dirty work around here.”
“I suppose we would give him what he wants and pick out his fingers according to the number of victims he’s controlled.”
“I don’t think the fingers on his hands and feet will be enough to fit the bill.”
“What an empty threat…you guys didn’t need me to step in beyond this point, now, didn’t you?”
“Where did you even get that assumption? I mean, you could’ve tried beating the crap outta him to try and dispel his mind control, and you could’ve beat the answer out of him instead if that didn’t work.”
“I couldn’t have…he said something earlier that meant that I couldn’t,” Sirou said, smiling light as his gaze returned to Antonio once again.
“I don’t want to imagine what would happen to the hostages elsewhere if I made my move.”
He was referring to a possibility that he’d held in his mind for a while now.
“Come on, and you never really had a threat all along.”
Sirou laughed as he thought of the threat that Antonio Fabbroni had shot at him.
“You wouldn’t have entrusted your trump card to someone else. You’re too cautious and secretive for something like that. You’re the type of guy that likes to keep the ace in your own hand, now, aren’t you?”
Moreover—
“If you wanted to play the hostage game, you would’ve simply used the girls in this room as well as the guests and staff members of the club. I imagine if you were also ready to give directions to your allies on the other floor. However, it seems Renya’s already taken care of your little group—you’re the final piece of trash that’s not taken out yet.”
Sirou had seen through Antonio completely.
“Then…why did you…” Antonio’s words come through gritted teeth as he glared back at him.
“You might have other hostages available, so we couldn’t act against you rashly…at least, that was what we wanted you to believe so you would let your guard down. You slacked your mind control believing that you have that insurance, thinking that you were safe from any and all risks…and all that led to the situation you see before you.”
You get it now?
“You trusted your caution too much—that’s why you lost. It seems you’re quite confident about your ability to outwit your enemies. It’s understandable given your chain of successes up until now.”
Unfortunately—
“You’ve fought against someone who can escape the jaws of death itself—someone who’s lived in a world who can turn the tables on an opponent whom they know nothing about at a single, crucial moment of their negligence and hesitation. I’m not going to lose to you when it comes to tactics concerning supernatural abilities.”
“…!”
With Sirou’s declaration, Antonio now understood that he was completely cornered.
What do I do?
Frantically, Antonio thought of the last cards available to him in order for him to survive.
Sirou and Renya likely did not know how his mind control mechanism worked; at the same time, Sirou had already withheld his weapon due to Antonio’s currently subdued state.
From Renya’s previous remarks, he appeared to be a combat-type user whose supernatural abilities seemed to augment his physique; there was thus a chance for Antonio to make a sudden move with his own supernatural ability.
The issue instead lay with Sirou, who was immune to his mind control ability; even though Renya was potentially vulnerable to it, he was a member of the Hungry Wolf Brigade, which meant that it was also possible for him to be immune to it as well. It was unsurprising if he too possessed a similar charm that the Yui girl from earlier was wearing in his possession. The odds were heavily against his favor.
That said, the only victims he could control were the women surrounding the VIP room.
“…”
Antonio turned toward the women on the bed and the pool.
Even if he could order them to come to their aid, Sirou and Renya could easily knock him out before they could arrive on time; and even if they could, the duo could simply subdue the surrounding girls, rendering them useless to him.
…I’m out of options.
Calmly administering his current situation, he made the conclusion that there was no saving himself no matter what he did.
…Even so.
Antonio did not give up on taking a last stab at his two adversaries that were confronting him.
Of course, he was unable to directly attempt anything against Sirou and Renya; he could not even use the girls under his control to attack them.
Nevertheless, he could still take their lives—he could still make a final gambit to kill.
That was why Antonio then gave his next order.
“I order you to—”
Die—that was Antonio’s command.
It was not directed at Sirou and Renya, however—it was directed at the girls surrounding the room, innocent girls who had been merely in Antonio’s control.
It would be his final and most cruel attempt or retaliating against Sirou and his group—by making these girls kill themselves before their very eyes.
It didn’t matter even if Sirou could duplicate himself—he would be unable to attend to all the girls at once. It was utterly impossible for him to save all of the young women in this room that made more than ten in number.
They were doomed to die. However—
“…”
None of the women followed Antonio’s order.
It was not because his mind control had finally been erased; the surrounding women were still bound to his will.
The issue lay in the fact that he was unable to give the final word of his command.
And it was then he saw the issue—in the reflection of his mouth in the glass table. A horizontal slash had been etched through the corners of his mouth.
“Ah…ah…?”
Something red-black fell to the floor—Antonio’s tongue had been cut off.
“…”
Utterly bewildered, he lifted his face to see that Sirou was suddenly wielding a blade in his hand.
“…Did you think we were going to let you do that?” He said, in an utterly cold voice.
“I have a good idea about what exactly you were planning with those girls…I was going to give you one last chance to make things right, but it seems you’re beyond redemption.”
Facing a terrifyingly cold stare from Sirou, Antonio frantically attempted to save himself from his inevitable demise.
“…! Haah, aaah…kkk…guh…!”
There was no ordering the girls surrounding him to rescue him, however nor could he beg Sirou and Renya for mercy.
Blood was nearly spilling out of his mouth from the wound of having his tongue cut off, and before he knew it, he was already slumped on the bed in the VIP room.
And his vision was dimming by the minute.
“We can’t have you die yet…we won’t be finishing things so mercifully.” A cruel voice could be heard looming over him. “Oh, don’t worry. You can say that the consciousness of the women swooning over you might never recover, but we’ll manage to do something about that. That said—”
He was already entering total darkness—but they weren’t about to forgive him despite that.
And in his final moments within that cold, frigid darkness, he heard a final sentence from a laughing voice.
“—Well, Antonio. Which finger should we start with first?”